


A Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

by Rainbow_Trout



Series: Whumptober 2020 [16]
Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Almost Dying, Gen, Hostage Situation, More Blood, More Guns, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27206701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainbow_Trout/pseuds/Rainbow_Trout
Summary: Whumptober day 16 - forced to beg, shoot the hostage
Relationships: Matthew Casey & Kelly Severide
Series: Whumptober 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953733
Comments: 8
Kudos: 30
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	A Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

Casey forced his heavy eyes open, sluggishly glancing around the room.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

Everything seemed to be moving slowly, over exposed, and Casey couldn’t make sense of it.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

He decided to shift, hoping to get a better idea of the situation. He was the Captain; he was meant to be on top of things. He needed to protect his men, and he could hardly do that lying down.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

But he was immediately met with resistance, a firm weight on his chest. He groaned as he looked up, vision fading in and out as he processed Severide’s face in front of his. The Lieutenant was talking at him, but he couldn’t hear anything.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

Casey whined as he tried to move again, this time feeling more hands press him down. He also jolted his back and was now acutely aware of a searing pain in his stomach.

_Fuck._

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

He forced his teary eyes open, trying his very best to focus. He knew that Kelly was above him, but he could also sense that the squad Lieutenant wasn’t alone. There seemed to be more of them, and he was going to figure it out.

_Breathe in. Breathe out._

It took a few minutes for his vision to stabilise, and when it did, he was surprised. It looked as though half of the house was kneeling over him, all looking as worried as each other. Brett seemed to be putting pressure on his wound.

Wait, _wound?_

He tried to raise his head, this time feeling a hand come to the back of it in support. It helped lift him, allowing his to see the scene around him. Brett was putting pressure on his wound, her hands covered in blood, Cruz was standing over him, Capp and Tony drifting not far behind him. Most of his men were only in his periphery, but they all had their arms folded, and Severide was kneeling across him, arms crossed, clearly defensive.

He blinked and noticed that Kelly’s lips were moving. Squinting tiredly, he tried to focus on his brother’s words, wondering if there was anything he could do to assist.

“… do you want to be guilty of killing a firefighter? Because that’s how you’re going…”

Okay, maybe he _didn’t_ want to know what Severide was saying, because he was certain that Kelly was referring to him.

But was he really going to die?

After all, he was the one lying prone on the floor… and if the pain was anything to go by, he had a pretty nasty wound in his abdomen.

_Okay, don’t think about the pain… that makes it worse…_

He licked his lips, forcing his eyes wider as he tried to survey Kelly. The man was still leaning over him, arms now spread out, “… if you want to show us good will, let Casey go. Let him get treatment. He needs it…”

This time, he put the effort into following Severide’s eyeline, peering across to the man he’d been looking at. He was the kind of guy you pictured when someone said ‘gang banger’ – possibly comically so. If he wasn’t brandishing a weapon, pointing it at Otis, he might have laughed.

_Pointing it at Otis._

Casey felt the adrenaline race through his body, heart speeding up as his mind entered flight or fight. The man was pointing a gun at one of his friends, hysterical, and it didn’t bode well. Otis to his credit seemed calm – well, as calm as you can be with a gun pointing at your head – and was still, hands up in surrender, not giving him anything to go off.

But the man wasn’t responding to any of it, shaking his head rapidly as he protested, “Nah, nah, nah… it’s not gonna be that easy, firefighter.”

Frustration almost palpable, Severide huffed, tightening his jaw, “He needs medical treatment… please. Let him go… we’re sorry for the accident but let him go… one death doesn’t absolve another.”

Casey felt his eyes start to drift closed, but he didn’t miss the glint in the gangbanger’s eyes. The way he utterly lit up at Kelly’s pleas, sickening smirk coming across his face, “Say that again.”

Kelly seemed confused, cocking his head to the side, “One… death doesn’t –”

The man hissed in frustration, shaking his head, before raising the gun so it was pointed at Kelly, “No. Beg. Beg again. Or he dies…”

Now, no matter how important Kelly’s dignity was to him, no matter how high he held his head, how much he hated to be questioned, or seen as weak, when it came to Casey’s health, his self-respect simply wasn’t important. So, he did his best to look powerless as he looked up at their captor, making eye contact as he stated, “Please.”

The young banger grinned, eyes once again sparkling sickeningly, “More.”

Kelly took a breath, doing his very best to hide the contempt in his eyes as he nodded, “Please. Please don’t hurt my friend.”

“Kneel down.”

Obliging, Kelly knelt, keeping one knee against Casey’s prone form, “Please don’t hurt my friend. I’m begging you. Let him go so he can get treatment… _please.”_

By now, the gangbanger was looking utterly delighted, smile covering his face, “More…”

But Severide never got the chance, because there was a sudden scuffle, before the gun clattered to the ground. Otis wasted no time in kicking it, watching it slide under the fire truck. He then leapt up, helping Herrmann pin the man down, both of them kneeling on his back as they waited for CPD.

Not that Kelly had been paying them any mind, though, because as soon as the gang banger had been apprehended, he’d turned his attention back to his blonde, patting his cheek in an attempt to rouse him. But Casey was unconscious, eyes shut and breaths shallow. Fear flooded Severide’s gut, knowing that the blonde was probably clinging to life by a thread.

He turned back to Brett, eyes begging for instruction. The blonde paramedic looked as worried as he did, hands now soaked in blood, but she just nodded to Severide, keeping her mind on the job, “We’re going to have to lift him, but let me keep pressure on his wound… co-ordinate that.”

Kelly nodded, glancing up to where Foster was racing over with the gurney. None of them had wasted any time in getting back to their jobs, and Severide just hoped they’d been fast enough.

* * *

Casey’s nose twitched, irritated by the cool air tickling it. He sighed, scrunching up his face, furrowing his brow. Clumsily, he raised a hand, pawing at his nose and feeling the tubing running beneath it.

_Huh?_

He tried to rub again, but almost jumped when he felt a hand on his, gently pulling it away. The mystery hand gently settled his by his side, before giving it a gentle squeeze, “Shhh. Easy, Case.”

That voice was familiar, and Casey groaned as he tried to open his eyes, squinting against the brightness. He was calm – perhaps eerily so – but he still wanted to know what was happening.

As soon as his vision stabilised, he saw Kelly smiling at him, a great deal calmer than he’d been before. Automatically, Casey found himself scanning his friend for injuries, but found none, “Sev?”

It felt as though his mouth was full of cotton wool, but Severide seemed to understand, nodding as he moved closer, sitting on the edge of his bed, “Hey, bud. How are you feeling?”

Casey took the time to consider, taking stock of his body. Aside from feeling quite out of it and tired – as though every inch of his body had been drained of its energy – his stomach was in agony, but he wasn’t about to tell Severide that, “I’m fine…”

Snorting, Kelly pressed the PCA pump into his hand, rolling his eyes, “Sure, bud… hit of that and you’ll be fine.”

Sheepishly, Casey pressed the button, immeaditely aware of the relief that washed through his body. He was still aching like hell, but he did feel better, “Thanks… you look happy.”

Kelly just nodded again, “You’ve woken up before, but this is the first time you’ve been coherent… it’s good, bud.”

Not knowing how to respond, Casey just nodded, unable to stifle a yawn. Reaching down, Kelly straightened out his IV, before rubbing the back of his hand, “You can go to sleep, Case… I’ll be here later.”

Blinking heavily, Casey just nodded again, knowing that even if he wanted to stay awake, he wouldn’t be able too. Sleep was beckoning him, and he tiredly took a breath as he muttered, “Thank you, Sev…”

Squeezing his hand, Severide brushed him off, “Any time, bud.”


End file.
